By Jim Rowland
The North-East of England was a crucial territory during the early days of the NWoBHM, and key to that was the legendary Neat Records, operating from that very area and responsible for a whole series of classic NWoBHM albums and singles. Central to that label’s roster was Newcastle’s Raven, who’s first three albums are classics of the era, and, much like their good buddies Anvil, are often credited with laying the foundations for speed and thrash metal. Unlike many of their counterparts from those days, Raven have endured ever since, and well over 40 years after first forming, they still have the fire. Whilst not a new album (one is scheduled for next year), ‘Leave ‘Em Bleeding’ is a compilation concentrating on Raven’s more recent output, plus several special rare treats.
The first five tracks here are like a mini ‘best of’ the two most recent Raven albums, 2020’s ‘Metal City’, and 2015’s ‘ExtermiNation’. It’s fair to say that whilst most keen fans of old school metal will be familiar with Raven’s early stuff, they may be less familiar with the more recent stuff, so this is a good opportunity for a quick taste of what Raven are like these days, and they prove that with tracks like ‘Top Of The Mountain’, ‘The Power’ and ‘Destroy All Monsters’ Raven have lost little, if any, of the fire, speed and frenzied energy of their earlier days.
The second half of this collection gathers rarities, bonus tracks, live recordings and covers versions mostly recorded over the same time span, with some a little older dating back to Raven’s fantastic ‘comeback’ album ‘Walk Through Fire’ in 2010. Golden oldies ‘Crash Bang Wallop’ and ‘Stay Hard’ are the explosive live recordings, Montrose’s ‘Space Station #5’ and Thin Lizzy’s ‘Bad Reputation’ are the two very decent covers, whilst ‘Necessary Evil’, ‘Rock This Town’ and the more light-hearted ‘Malice In Geordieland’, paying homage to their homeland, are also very decent rare bonus tracks.
If you love your old school metal but are new to Raven, I would still go back to those classic first three albums (‘Rock Until You Drop’, ‘Wiped Out’ & ‘All For One’) first, but ‘Leave ‘Em Bleeding’ is certainly a handy little release if you want to catch up on all that Raven still have to offer in the here and now, and believe me, they still have plenty to offer.
- ‘Leave ‘Em Bleeding’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
www.facebook.com/ravenbandofficial
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.